Maps and Satellite Images of the Okavango Delta World ......Botswana surrounding the Okavango Delta) has increased 10-fold in 100 years, from around 15,000 people in the second decade

Maps and satellite images of the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site Downloaded from www.AfricanNaturalHeritage.org

Maps and Satellite Images of the Okavango Delta

(Illustration from Okavango Delta: Floods of Life by J.M. Mendelsohn et al. (2010))


Maps showing the location of the Okavango Delta in north-western Botswana (left, from www.AfricanNaturalHeritage.org) and the boundaries of the core and buffer zones of the world heritage site (right, from the world heritage nomination dossier)

Map of the Okavango Delta region from the Map Studio Road Atlas of Southern and East Africa


The course of the Okavango River from its sources in the Angolan highlands, through Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and into its delta in the Kalahari Basin in north-west Botswana (Illustrations from ‘Okavango Delta: Floods of Life’ by J.M. Mendelsohn et al. (2010))


(Illustration from Okavango Delta: Floods of Life by J.M. Mendelsohn et al. (2010))


Human population pressure around the Okavango Delta The population of Ngamiland (the area of northern Botswana surrounding the Okavango Delta) has increased 10-fold in 100 years, from around 15,000 people in the second decade of the twentieth century to about 150,000 today. Many of these people live around the fringes of the delta, herding their cattle according to the availability of fresh grass. (Illustration from Okavango Delta: Floods of Life by J.M. Mendelsohn et al. (2010)).

Map of the world heritage-designated area showing land management units and land-use categories (from UNESCO world heritage nomination dossier developed by the Government of Botswana)


Remote satellite images of the entire course of the Okavango River from its source in the Angolan highlands to its inland delta in the heart of southern Africa’s Kalahari Basin.


Most of the Panhandle and upper reaches of the Okavango Delta are composed of permanent swamps with an ever-changing mosaic of lagoons, channels, islands and swamp vegetation. In the dry season, the sandy islands can be completely devoid of vegetation (right of lower picture).


Veterinary fences have been used for decades in Botswana to separate wildlife and cattle, preventing disease transmission to domestic stock. Some of these fences are being removed as they interfere with traditional migration patterns of wildlife, but fence lying to the south of the delta remains in place. Here animal tracks can be seen running parallel to the fence line, demonstrating its effectiveness in preventing the natural movement of wildlife.

Along the Panhandle there is a distinct boundary between the dry woodlands of raised land above the river banks (right of photo), and the extensive perennial green of the permanent swamps that fill its widened course.


Khwai River Lodge is one of many luxury lodges, offering superb facilities and a unique location overlooking a swamp-filled channel teeming with wildlife

Many of the luxury tourist camps in the delta are only accessible by light aircraft, so bush airstrips such as this one at Xakanaka are found throughout. Xakanaka (which lies within Moremi Game Reserve) is one of the few areas that is also accessible by vehicle, so tracks (visible in white) can be seen following along the meandering boundary of the swamp.


At the extreme north-western end of the Panhandle (at Mohembo, near the Namibian border) the Okavango River is constrained through a single channel. Here Botswana’s Department of Water Affairs has maintained a monitoring station to record water flow and other parameters over many decades.

The interior of the Okavango delta has very few permanent residents, but people are (in places) crowded along its fringes in villages such as Seronga, on the northern banks of the Panhandle.

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Maps and Satellite Images of the Okavango Delta World ......Botswana surrounding the Okavango Delta) has increased 10-fold in 100 years, from around 15,000 people in the second decade